El Greco
(Domenicos
Theotokopoulos),
1541-1614
EL GRECO
PASSIONATE VISIONARY
One of he greatest Spanish
painters“ but was Greek by birth
El Greco" Castilian for "The Greek“
.
Almost nothing known about his
early life.
Spent most of his life in the
Toledo area of Spain –
extremely pious, cultured man,
his very intense, spiritual works
are famed for their tortuously
elongated figures.
Self Portrait
Christ Healing the Blind Man. 1560s. Oil on panel. Alte Meister Gallerie,
Dresden, Germany
El Greco.
Annunciation.
Before 1570.
Tempera on panel.
Museo del Prado,
Madrid, Spain.
elongated figures,
ever straining upward,
intense and unusual
colors,
Passionate and
energetic.
El Greco. Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple. c.1570. Oil on panel.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.
El Greco. Mary
Magdalen in
Penitence. c.
1577.
Oil on
canvas. Worcester
Art Museum,
Worcester,
Massachusetts, USA
His artistic roots are
diverse: he traveled
between Venice, Rome,
and Spain (settling in
Toledo). The Christian
doctrines of Spain
made a crucial impact
on his approach to
painting, and his art
represents a blend of
passion and restraint,
religious fervor and
Neo-Platonism,
influenced by the
mysticism of the
Counter-Reformation.
View of Toledo
c. 1597 (180
Kb); Oil on
canvas, 121.3 x
108.6 cm (47
3/4 x 42 3/4 in);
The
Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
New York
The Adoration
of the
Shepherds
1612-14 (230
Kb); Oil on
canvas, 319 x
180 cm (125
5/8 x 70
7/8"); Museo
del Prado,
Madrid
Portrait of a
Cardinal
c. 1600 (160
Kb); Oil on
canvas, 180.8
x 108 cm (67
1/4 x 42 1/2
in); The
Metropolitan
Museum of
Art, New York
Baptism of
Christ
1597-1600 Oil
on canvas, 350 x
144 cm; Museo
del Prado,
Madrid
The Holy Trinity
1577 Oil on
canvas, 300 x
179 cm (118 1/8
x 70 1/2");
Museo del
Prado, Madrid
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The statue of
Laocoön and His
Sons, also called
the Laocoön Group
shows the Trojan
priest Laocoön and
his sons being
strangled by sea
serpents.
The opening of the
Fifth Seal of the
Apocalypse
c. 1608-14 Oil on
canvas, 224.5 x 192.8
cm (88 1/2 x 76 in);
Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York
Assumption of the Virgin. 1577-1579.
Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago,
Chicago, IL, USA.
St.Peter in Tears. c.
1580-1585. Oil on
canvas. The Bowes
Museum, Barnard
Castle, Couty
Durham, UK
The tears of St. Peter
1603-1607
Oil on canvas
102 x 84 cm
Hospital de San Juan
Bautista de Afuera, Toledo
The Martyrdom of St.
Maurice. 1580s. Oil on
canvas. Art Museum,
Bucharest, Romania
The Resurrection. 1584-1594. Oil on
canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Christ Carrying the
Cross. c. 1590-1595.
Oil on canvas. Oscar
B. Cintas
Foundation, NY,
USA
The
Agony
in the
Garden.
c.1595.
Oil on
canvas.
Toledo
Museum
of Art,
Toledo,
OH, USA
The Agony in the Garden. 16051610. Oil on canvas.
Szepmuveseti Muzeum,
Budapest, Hungary
Christ on the Cross with
Landscapes. c. 1605-1610. Oil on
canvas. The Cleveland Museum of
Art, Cleveland, USA
El Greco - Self Portrait
as Saint Luke c1604
(one of the Portraits of
the Apostles in the
Sacristy of Toledo
Cathedral)
The Burial of Count Orgaz.
c.1586. Oil on canvas.
Church of San Tomé, Toledo,
Spain
El Greco was buried in
the Church of St.
Thomé.